The Community of Sant’Egidio, which cares for the basilica and the shrine, hosted an event on March 23 to dedicate a new exposition space among the ruins in the crypt as a museum and memorial to the new martyrs of both the 20th and 21st centuries.

The inauguration took place on the eve of St. Romero’s feast day, a day the Diocese of Rome and many others around the world remember the “new martyrs” of Nazism, communism, totalitarianism and anti-Christian persecution.

Cardinal Blase J. Cupich of Chicago, titular cardinal of the church, told those gathered, “Here in this sacred space we remember the stories and honour the relics of those, who while they come from different lands and cultures, share the common bond that the Gospel of Jesus Christ gave birth to their martyrdom.”

Archbishop Fabio Fabene, secretary of the Vatican Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, said the fact that the basilica hosts a relic of the Apostle Bartholomew as well as a breviary used by Father Jacques Hamel, killed in France in 2016, is a reminder that “martyrdom has been a reality of the church from the beginning” and is a “sign of the greatest love a Christian can have for Christ and for his brothers and sisters.”

He also announced that as part of the preparations for the Holy Year 2025, the dicastery is instituting a “new martyrs” commission that will gather documentation about Christians who have given their lives for their faith in the 20th and 21st centuries.